Housing authority rift comes to forefront

The stormy relationship that has been brewing between the Bremerton and county housing authorities came to a head Tuesday, with the Bremerton Housing Authority announcing the restructuring of an agreement with the county group that would significantly reduce its involvement in the redevelopment of Westpark.

The Bremerton Housing Authority board has given the other housing authority seven days to sign off on a new agreement, or it could terminate its partnership with Kitsap County Community Housing Authority.

The move means that the city housing authority will more directly control financial and development decisions regarding the rebuilding of Westpark — the aging 663-unit low-income development in West Bremerton.

The long-range development plan of Westpark includes 20 acres of commercial retail development, 5 acres of transitional, mixed-use facilities and about 20 acres of open space. The rest — about 35 acres — will be used for housing, including 220 homes and 780 apartments.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a mandate during the 1990s that cities decentralize low-income housing projects and spread them throughout urban areas.

BHA's announcement also comes as a citizens committee studies the potential of a merger between the two housing organizations.

The committee held a meeting Monday to hear from the public, with about 35 people, most of them tied in one way or another to the housing industry, in attendance.

The board also voted unanimously to oppose a potential merger at a meeting over the weekend.

Lynn Horton, vice chairwoman of the Bremerton Housing Authority board, believes the move will help speed up the development of Westpark.

She would like to limit KCCHA's role in Westpark and bring in other experienced developers to oversee the project. She noted the county authority is involved in redevelopment projects in downtown Bremerton and other areas of the county.

"Although we would like to continue the partnership with KCCHA, if we can't come to terms we are committed to move forward and find other developers to replace KCCHA in total," Horton said. "The bottom line is we are not letting this slow us down. We are moving, if not quicker, we are moving full steam ahead, and we would like to pick up the pace of the development."

However, officials with the county-based housing authority disagree. They worry that the new proposed contract could slow down an environmental review on the commercial portion of the project, and that delays chase away retailers interested in committing to the commercial retail center.

"Frankly, I am just shocked and surprised that in a middle of a blue-ribbon committee process in trying to see if consolidation works for the citizens of Kitsap County, that this would be a demand from the Bremerton Housing Authority board," said Kim Abel, Port Orchard mayor and chairwoman of the county-based housing authority.

"Because at the end of the day if consolidation is the recommendation, this would be a useless process to change the memorandum of understanding at this point."

Abel said as chairwoman she has the authority to call a special meeting, and may do so to discuss the new agreement.

Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman said the city housing authority's recent action will have no effect on the committee study.

"In the end, it will still come down to the city council's decision on whether or not it's in the best interest of our community," he said. "We are going to move ahead with that process. And I am confident in the end the council will have enough information to make a decision."

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